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Yesterday we learned that the Yidden are not allowed to shecht a korban outside of the Mishkan or Beis Hamikdash. Today, the posuk adds that burning the korban outside of the Mishkan or Beis Hamikdash is another aveira.
We also learn about the punishment for eating blood. We are not allowed to eat blood, because the chayus of a living thing is in its blood. This is also why we need to cover the blood of animal when we shecht it (“Kisui Hadam”).
If someone eats a kosher bird that wasn’t shechted properly, he becomes tomei and his clothes become tomei, too. He is not allowed to eat from korbanos or go into the Beis Hamikdash until he goes himself into the mikvah, and dips his clothing into the mikvah too.
Now Hashem tells the Yidden to remember about Hashem, and not to act like the Mitzriyim, who didn’t know that getting married is a very holy thing! The Torah will give us rules about who we can marry.
We also learn from these pesukim that Yidden need to behave differently than the other nations (“Uvechukoseihem Lo Seileichu”). We need to be dedicated to learning Hashem’s Torah and doing His mitzvos.
Since we are Hashem’s holy nation, we need to remember that getting married is a very holy thing! Hashem gives us very specific rules about getting married.
- A person can’t marry his mother or stepmother
- He can’t marry his sister or stepsister
- He can’t marry his grandchildren
- He can’t marry his aunt
- He can’t marry his daughter-in-law
- He can’t marry a woman and her daughter
- He can’t marry two sisters
- He needs to act differently with a woman who has Tumas Niddah
- He can’t get married to a woman who is married to someone else
Hashem also tells us NOT to do the Avodah Zarah of Molech.
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The beginning of Kapitel Nun, in today’s Tehillim, speaks about Le’asid Lavo, the time when Moshiach comes. At that time, Hashem will punish the goyim for hurting the Yidden during the times of Golus!
The posuk says that then Hashem will say, “Isfu Li Chasidoi,” “Gather to me My righteous ones,” “Korsei Brisi Alei Zovach,” “the ones who made a bris with Me and brought a korban.”
אִסְפוּ לִי חֲסִידָי כֹּרְתֵי בְרִיתִי עֲלֵי זָבַח
Who made a bris with Hashem?
This posuk is talking about the Yidden at the time of Matan Torah. Like it says at the end of Parshas Mishpatim, before the Torah was given, they brought korbanos and made a bris with Hashem. They promised that whatever happens, Hashem’s love for them and their love for Hashem will stay — they will always stay connected.
In Mesechta Sanhedrin, R’ Elazar brings this posuk as a proof about Techiyas Hameisim. R’ Elazar says that we see from here that the Dor Hamidbar, the Yidden who wandered through the Midbar, have a chelek in Olam Haba. It shows that EVERYONE from that dor, even the Meraglim and Korach and his group, who also made this bris at the time of Matan Torah, will all have Techiyas Hameisim and have a part in Olam Haba! There is an argument in the Gemara about this, but what R’ Elazar said became the halacha.
The Rebbe tells us that we can learn a very important lesson from this in our Ahavas Yisroel! Even if we see someone who looks as low as Korach, making machlokes with others, we need to remember that EVERY Yid, even Korach, has a part in Olam Haba! Hashem gives each Yid a chelek in Olam Haba because they are all “Neitzer Mata’ai, Maasei Yadai Lehispa’er” — Hashem is proud of every Yid! This will help us have Ahavas Yisroel for every Yid and help bring them closer to Hashem!
See Farbrengen Yud-Beis Tammuz and Tes-Vov Tammuz Tof-Shin-Lamed-Tes
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TANYA
Likutei Amarim Perek Mem-Vov
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Now we are starting a new Perek in Tanya. We are going to learn about an even EASIER way to bring out our love for Hashem, so that our Torah and mitzvos will be Lishma, and nothing will distract us from doing what Hashem wants us to do! This new way will be very easy for us to understand and connect with! It is going to be explained to us over the next four perakim.
Did you ever stand by a lake or river and look inside? It’s just like a mirror — you can see yourself! “Kamayim Hapanim LePanim, Kein Leiv Ha’Adam El Ha’Adam.”
Shlomo Hamelech tells us in Mishlei that our heart is ALSO like looking in water — the way we feel about other people is the way they will feel about us. When we love someone else, they will love us too.
(Shlomo Hamelech is also teaching us a lesson here: If we are in a fight with someone, this can help us fix things up! If we love the other person, they will feel it too and stop fighting with us.)
Let’s close our eyes and imagine a very very poor person, that everyone laughs at and makes fun of. He doesn’t even have a house, he just sits in the garbage dump, all by himself.
Now imagine that a great king hears about this person. He calls his officers to bring his royal carriage, and goes by himself down to the garbage dump! He brings that poor man into the palace, into the rooms that NOBODY is allowed to go into! The king hugs the poor man, and kisses him, and tells him that he loves him!
Can you imagine how much the poor person will love the king? Even if he isn’t a very emotional person, who has a lot of feelings, he will still feel a very strong love for the king!
Soon we’re going to learn how this is a mashal — that really WE are like the poor person in the story!
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Today is twenty-four days of the Omer!
The Baal Shem Tov said:
Everything we see or hear can help us in our Avodas Hashem!
This is what Avodah is all about — to get used to trying to understand how each thing that comes into our life will help our Avodas Hashem.
In a sicha to the girls of Camp Emunah after they came back from camp, the Rebbe explained one of the horaos we can learn from playing! The Rebbe pointed out that we see that when little girls play, one of their main games is playing house and with dolls.
Even though they are very young and don’t really think about their shlichus in the world, they are already practicing for it! When they get older, Hashem will IY”H give them a home and children to take care of. Now, with the game they like to play, they are already learning how to do their shlichus in the future, and make their home a home that will be the way Hashem wants!
See Likutei Sichos chelek Yud-Daled p. 196
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Today’s mitzvah (Mitzvas Asei #110) is how we make a person or a house with Tzoraas tahor again! It needs to be done the way the Torah tells us, using two birds, water, and certain plants. For a person, this is all the first step to becoming Tahor.
Here are the things we need:
- a piece of wood from a cedar tree
- a piece of red wool
- a kind of plant called an Eizov
- two birds
- a bowl of water (the kind of water that we can use for a Mikvah)
Together with the mitzvos we learned before, we now see that there are three ways a person can take away tumah from himself:
1) Going in a mikvah (this is for all kinds of Tumah)
2) The ashes of the Parah Adumah (for Tumas Meis)
3) Wood, wool, Eizov, birds, and water (for Tumas Tzoraas)
We learn this mitzvah from many pesukim at the beginning of Parshas Metzora, and it is explained in Mishnayos Mesechta Negai’im.
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In today’s Rambam, we learn more about Tzoraas:
Perek Ches: There is a kind of Tzoraas that comes on a part of the head or the chin where the hair fell off, called a Nesek. If there are gold-colored hairs there, or if the spot of Tzoraas grew, the person is Tomei.
Perek Tes: There are many halachos about the Kohen checking to see if the Tzoraas is Tomei. We learn WHO can check (only a Kohen, and only if he knows the halachos or is listening to someone else who DOES know the halachos), WHEN he checks (only certain times during the day, and not during Yom Tov, for example), and HOW he checks (how the person stands).
Perek Yud: This perek tells us the details of the mitzvah we learned about not taking off signs of tzoraas.We also learn about how a Metzora can make other people Tomei, and the halachos of the mitzvah that show how a Metzora needs to act to make sure nobody becomes Tomei by mistake.
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In this perek the Rambam teaches us ways that a Kiddushin wouldn’t count, for example if a man gave a woman a coin to be mekadesh her, but she threw it on the floor instead of taking it. The woman has to WANT to get married to him for the Kiddushin to mean something.
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During this week in Sefiras Haomer, we are working on the midah of Netzach.
What is Netzach?
Sometimes a person can be very excited about davening! He may have gotten a new siddur, or won a prize for davening nicely.
A person may be very excited about giving tzedakah, after hearing a story about how special the mitzvah of tzedakah is.
A person can feel very close to his parents, like after not seeing them for a long time, and want to do something to make them happy.
When we do something because we feel a love and excitement for what we are doing, we are using the midah of Chesed and Ahava.
But what happens after we use the new siddur for a month, or forget the beautiful story about tzedakah, or we see our parents every day? We don’t feel as excited about what we are doing, and we don’t enjoy doing it as much. But we know that these mitzvos are what we SHOULD do. We should be davening, we should be giving tzedakah, and we should be having Kibud Av Va’em — and so we do it.
That’s using our midah of Netzach! We do the same things as when we were able to do it with our Chesed (when we were excited to do it) even when we aren’t interested anymore. We have Netzach, victory! Even though we may want to read a book or play a game, we do what we know is right… we have victory over the Yetzer Hara.
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In Shemoneh Esrei, the bracha that we say to ask Hashem for parnasa is “Bareich Aleinu.”
(If you look at the translation of this bracha, you will see that it is all about rain and growing things. That’s because it used to be that everyone’s parnasa was connected to farming.)
It says in Hayom Yom that when we ask Hashem to bring bracha on all that we grow, we should have in mind the matzah for Pesach, the esrog for Sukkos, and the wine for Kiddush. When the wheat, esrogim, and grapes grow well, we can do these mitzvos in the nicest way. When the reason we ask for parnasa is to do mitzvos properly, Hashem will surely bentch us with plenty of parnasa.
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Things that are not meant to be used on Shabbos are muktza, and we are not allowed to move them.
There are some times when the Chachomim took away their gezeira of muktza. One time is when leaving the muktza where it is will be a sakana for people.
For example, broken glass is muktza, since it usually can’t be used for anything.
But if glass breaks on the table or where people walk, someone could get hurt! Because of this, the Chachomim didn’t make it counted as muktza, and we are allowed to clean it up in the regular way.
See the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, siman Shin-Ches se’if Chof-Ches
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לעילוי נשמת הרה״ח ר׳ דניאל יצחק ע״ה בן ר׳ אפרים שי׳ מאסקאוויץ
שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר נשיא דורנו למדינת אילינוי
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The Navi Yeshaya said many nevuos about what will happen in the times of the Geulah!
One of the nevuos is about people who have lots of gaavah, who serve Avodah Zarah. When the days of Moshiach will come, they won’t feel proud anymore — they will be very embarrassed! They will throw away all of their Avodah Zarah and run to hide from the glory of Hashem that will be seen in the world.
The posuk says:
לָבוֹא בְּנִקְרוֹת הַצֻּרִים וּבִסְעִפֵי הַסְּלָעִים מִפְּנֵי פַּחַד ה׳ וּמֵהֲדַר גְּאוֹנוֹ בְּקוּמוֹ לַעֲרֹץ הָאָרֶץ
The posuk before tells us that everybody who has Avodah Zarah will throw it away when they run to hide!
Lavo Benikros Hatzurim — They will run to hide in the holes of the rocks
Uv’se’ifei Hasela’im — And in the caves of the cliffs
Mipnei Pachad Hashem — From the fear of Hashem
Umeihadar Ge’ono — And from Hashem’s great glory
Bekumo La’arotz Ha’aretz — When Hashem gets up to punish the Resha’im in the world.
See Yeshayahu perek Beis, posuk Chof-Alef
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לע"נ התינוק זאב ארי' ע"ה בן יבלט"א הרה"ח ר' שניאור זלמן שי' גליק
נפטר ב' מנחם אב ה'תשע"ג
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